Arts
Something to woof down
With a glass jar full of Tayo Bear cookies on her lap, Shanaz Fouze is surrounded by her three adorable dogs, Tayo, Mango and Lilly waiting eagerly for the treats on her lap. This is a daily occurrence at Shanaz’s home.
A cuddle from Shanaz. Pic by Sameera Weerasekera
Shanaz is the creator of the Tayo Bear range, that is organic and baked at home, an alternative to store-bought dog food. Named after her dog Tayo, it is thoroughly loved by dogs. A passionate dog lover, Shanaz started Tayo Bear just over a year ago and is now on the verge of starting Sri Lanka’s first doggy cafe.
With a BA in Leadership and HR, Shanaz is currently doing her MBA in Entrepreneurship.
It all started when Tayo had a weight problem and Shanaz started making healthy food for her. Soon her friends wanted the food for their dogs and Shanaz realised that dogs of all sizes and breeds adored her home-made meals.
“I have grown up with dogs and we always made them home cooked meals. I make sure that I try everything before I give it to my dogs to eat. All Tayo Bear products are human grade dog food,” says Shanaz.
Shanaz makes sure to check to see what a possible customer’s dog’s ailments and allergies are, saying “So before someone places an order, I always make sure to check whether the dog has any allergies or disease, is overweight or diabetic. I have one client whose dog is diabetic, another whose dog is allergic to oats. My flour is a mixture of oat flour and normal flour. So I had to make a whole different batch of cookies without using oats.”
“Tayo Bear food is all freshly made. I usually make it at night after I get home from work and I deliver it the next day.”
Shanaz donates a part of the Tayo Bear proceeds to a different charity every month, also having doggy almsgivings once in a while. “To me they are like my children,” Shanaz says passionately of her pets.
Tayo Bear offers a variety of treats and doggy food. There are six different types of Yummy Packs. The most popular is the Fresh and Fancy flavour, made using fish or chicken, red rice, peanut powder, carrot, cabbage, peas, potatoes and green gram. Designed to make life easy for busy dog owners, all you have to do is put it into the microwave, and in five minutes it becomes like a fresh meal. The pack can be kept frozen for more than three months.
A treat in 6 flavours
Liver and oat cookies
Chicken and potato mash cupcake
It is clear that dogs just go crazy over the cookies and biscuits particularly the Peanut butter and coconut cookies and the whole wheat and oats with peanut sauce biscuits. Shanaz also makes amazingly inventive Doggy cupcake and cakes, for anyone looking to throw a doggy birthday party, or to just simply spoil their dog. The two cupcake varieties are Banana peanut butter cupcakes and the Oats and peanut butter cupcake.
There are also products such as Doggy Breakfast Jar, Jelly Jam Mix and the Dog Yoghurt.
| Anyone for a doggy day on the beach? | |
| Love taking your dogs to the beach? Then join Rashmini de Silva, actually the first Tayo Bear customer and Shanaz who together have started the Doggy Beach Club just for this and welcome other owners and their dogs.  Rashmi and Shanaz: It’s sun, sea and sand for all “Most of the time when we go to the beach, people scold us for bringing our dogs even though we make sure we clean up after them. So, we thought why not form a little club. We have swimming lessons, we play ball with our dogs and enjoy a doggy fun day. Anyone with a dog can join,” Shanaz says. For more information about the doggy beach club visit their Instagram page. https://instagram.com/ doggybeach |
| Doggy-hangout soon | |
| Imagine a place where you can celebrate your dog’s birthday, a satisfying venue where the best, organic treats and meals will be available, a homely sanctuary where dogs can make friends and mingle with their kind while the owners enjoy a snack or a bite as they wait. Tayo Bear is all set to launch its new Doggy Café on October 1 – a special retreat for all furry friends at 71/2, Gregory’s Road, Colombo 7. Shanaz has long felt that our furry friends deserve nothing but the best at all times as they are part and parcel of the family. This is why she envisioned opening a café exclusively for dogs, a cheery hangout that offers all of Tayo’s versatile products while facilitating a space where dogs and their masters and mistresses can relax together. Ronali Perera, Director of RAW SRI Lanka said: Tayo Bear has been the best thing that could happen for my dogs! Being an organic food advocate and only giving my dogs the best this has really made a difference to their whole health care game. Couldn’t thank Shanaz enough for this venture and super excited for the Cafè!
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For more information about the products visit the Tayo Bear Instagram Page.
https://instagram.com/tayobear?igshid=
18o1pyxzztamz.